


Can't Help Falling In Love

by sportssqueen



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Baseball, F/M, Family, Pregnancy, Tommy Merlyn is Alive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-14
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-05-06 14:35:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5420777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sportssqueen/pseuds/sportssqueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver Queen believed he had it all: a dream career, a perfect marriage, and his beautiful wife. And his life was about to get even better. Baseball AU one-shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Can't Help Falling In Love

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a sort of stand-alone one-shot of Oliver and Felicity's family in the baseball AU world I've created. It isn't exactly related to my other story "A Perfect Game" (which I haven't given up on, I promise!), but it can be a future fic in relation to that. There will be more one-shots/linked fics to come!
> 
> If you have read "A Perfect Game", I have not forgotten about it. I ran into writer's block, but as soon as my exams are all over, I will devote time to that! Any ideas? Feel free to hit me up!
> 
> As always, follow me on Tumblr (same name and everything), and talk/bug me!
> 
> Also, if I were to make a twitter account for you guys to talk to me about my stories, give me ideas, etc., would anyone be interested in that? I am choosing not to give my personal accounts in order to maintain privacy on my part.

Felicity sat in her bed, watching the baseball game on TV. This may have been her least favorite part of being on bed rest, because she couldn't go to his games. Oliver was a major league baseball player, something her had worked hard for. Surprisingly, she loved playing the role of the supportive wife. But, it was his fault she was in this situation.

She was currently 8 months pregnant with their first child. Her due date was about 2 weeks away, but after the scare last month, the doctor told them not to be surprised if the baby came early. Felicity had gotten so stressed that she ended up getting high blood pressure and a mild case of Braxton-Hicks. Oliver had been at an away game at the time, which had caused her to have a minor panic attack. Her first thought had been to call Thea, but she had spent the weekend with Roy in Coast City. So she had called Laurel, and had never been more thankful. For someone who was intense in the courtroom, she was incredibly calm when Felicity called. Oliver had been in the middle of the game when everything had happened, so he hadn't known about it until after his game. She didn’t want to worry him, so she told herself that she wouldn't call unless the doctor had told her she was officially in labor.

Oliver was not happy that she hadn’t called. The threat to quit the rest of the season was mentioned once or twice. So he had become super strict with her bed rest, doting on her every second when he happened to be home, and making sure that someone was with her when he was on the road. He kept his phone with him in the dugout, telling her to call if she had to go to the hospital. But, Felicity did not want to bother him,

He had been with the Archers program for 6 years now, playing in the majors for 4. They started dating when he was playing for a smaller team, having met through Laurel. They married 2 years ago, 2 years into his major's career. She had gotten the hang of being the wife of a major league baseball player. It was stressful and at time lonely, but she wouldn’t trade it for the world. Because she got to call the best player in the Archers history and one of the top players in the league her husband.

She felt a sharp kick to her side and softly rubbed it away. The baby had gotten into kicking a lot more within the last month, and while Oliver found it fascinating, she couldn't stand it. It’s cute at first, but when you lose hours of sleep each night to an active baby, you begin to find it uncute.

The pained look on her face went away when Oliver stepped up to the plate. It was times like this she was glad for the flat screen in their room. Being the technology geek herself, she had been surprisingly adamant about the idea of a TV in their room. But she had caved and now she was glad. The baby seemed to know their daddy was up because the kicking increased. The strength of the kicks increased, to the point where Felicity felt uncomfortable.  Laying a hand on her stomach, she willed the pain to go away, and suddenly she was doubled over in pain. A sharp pain shot though her abdomen, causing her to turn into the mattress. She tried to count and focus on breathing, but the need for oxygen won out. She waited and let the pain ride out, and when it had somewhat subsided, she reached over to get her phone from the nightstand. Dialing the familiar number, she hoped Laurel would answer her phone.

After 3 rings, a voice answer, "Hello?"

"Laurel," she breathed out, "I'm in labor."

*****

Oliver looked at the field, surveying the opposing team. They were winning so far, but his mind wasn't on the game. Felicity was close to her due date, and every breathing second he wasn't with her, he had this present panic. He hadn’t been thrilled that Felicity hadn’t told him she had gone to the hospital, but he understood where she was coming from.

While he worried, he was excited to be a father. After being married for 2 years and dating for 2 and 1/2 years, he had been more than ready to start a family with Felicity. The hardest part had been keeping the gender a secret. They were the only ones who knew, because after the PR nightmare, they hadn’t wanted the media to get wind of the gender. Felicity hadn’t gained a lot of weight during the beginning of her pregnancy, and it showed when she wore her signature form-fitting dresses. So much so, that when she and Oliver stepped out, the paparazzi was all over them, even going as far to say in one tabloid that Felicity had lost the baby and he was leaving her. She had cried in bed for over a week, and he had been enraged. And sometime in that week she spent crying and eating pint after pint of mint chocolate chip, she and gained 10 pounds and the slightest shape of a bump had formed. Since then, they had chosen not to let the media get a hold of the gender or the name, to protect them all.

And right now, he couldn't do anything to help them. It upset him that he would only get three days with Felicity after the baby is born before he would be thrown back into the lineup. Felicity would be on her own for almost the first month, with the exception of the few days he would be home. He felt horrible for leaving her with a newborn without his support, but she was a strong woman, and he knew that she could handle it.

He suddenly heard someone call his name, and turned around to find Tommy holding his phone. He didn’t think twice before running over and grabbing the phone from Tommy. Felicity's name was on the screen followed by those two words: "It's time".

He looked over at the manager and he didn’t have to say anything before he nodded. As he ran down the corridor leading to the locker room, he heard Diggle call out to one of the rookies, throwing him in the game. He had to get to the hospital fast, not knowing how far along she was. He quickly changed out of his uniform, throwing on a long sleeve shirt and a pair of shorts, grabbed his bag and his shoes, and ran to his car.

*****

The more intense the pain got, the more she wished Oliver was here with her. Thea and Roy showed up a while ago, and Laurel hadn’t left her side. But she wished her husband would be here with her. Felicity could only hope that he had gotten the text, because she knew he was allowed to keep his phone with him in the dugout now that she was close. And according to the doctor, it shouldn’t be long now.

When she arrived and had been admitted, she had half expected them to tell her that she and at least 10 or more hours to go. What she hadn’t expected was him to say that she better hope Oliver gets here soon, because the baby could be here in the next few hours. And that conversation had been almost an hour ago.

She felt another contraction rip through her, squeezing Laurel’s hand so hard, she thought she may have broken it. But Laurel just stood there and took it, telling her that everything would be ok and Oliver would be here soon. Her words couldn’t have been truer because as soon as that contraction had ended, Oliver burst into the room, out of breath from running and sweaty from the game.

“Oliver,” she said, sounding hoarse.

He was by her bed in an instant, taking the hand previously occupied by Laurel as she slipped out of the room.

“I made it,” he said, “I’m here.”

He kissed her right then, but it was cut short when she felt more pain rush through her. This time she had Oliver with her, and she was determined to make him catch up for lost time.

He knew exactly what to do, rubbing her back while telling her what every woman wanted to do, all while she was yelling at him and trying to breathe through the pain. That particular contraction had been longer, and the sudden need to push flooded her body. 

“Oliver,” she said, “get the doctor.”

He ran out of the room pretty fast, yelling at the first nurse he saw. But when he returned, two nurses and her doctor accompanied him. The doctor quickly examined her, before turning to the nurses and nodding, and settling down into the chair by her feet.

“Well, Mrs. Queen,” he began, “it seems as though your baby wants to meet you two. And she knew daddy was here.”

Felicity threw her head back against the pillow while the nurses bustled around getting ready. She could only focus on Oliver, who stood on her left. He took her left hand, kissing her ring finger where her wedding band and engagement ring still sat.

“Ready to meet our baby?” he asked.

Felicity could only nod, before focusing on delivering her baby.

*****

Oliver looked down at the sleeping baby in his arms. It had all been a roller coaster ride, but he was thankful that the end was worth it. His daughter instantly became the second love of his life, but she was narrowly behind Felicity.

She snuggled into his chest, which was now shirt free. The doctors said it was for the best, but he didn’t mind. If it meant spending quality time with his little girl, he would do whatever was necessary.

She came into the world fairly calm, and Felicity about had a panic attack when she didn’t hear the excessive crying that most come to associate birth with. But, he quickly reassured her that their daughter was perfectly fine, with 10 toes, 10 fingers, 2 arms, 2 legs, and a head full of light blonde hair. She was perfect in Oliver’s eyes, even if she was a little messy.

The minute she was placed in her mother’s arms, it was as though the world stopped. The picture painted before him was breathtaking, and he actually pulled his phone out to remember the moment.

Felicity’s hair was in a mop on the top of her head, some strands falling and framing her face. She looked exhausted, sweat causing the few pieces that did touch her face to stick to her forehead and cheeks. There were dark circles under her eyes, due to the lack of sleep since the baby had kept her up the last few weeks during the night and the strenuous labor she just went through. But she had never looked more beautiful. How she looked on their first date, his proposal, and their wedding date paled in comparison in his eyes to how she looked right now. The tiny bundle in her arms was sleeping, her fingers moving around and her pink lips puckered.

This was about to be the rest of his life, watching out for his girl and their little girl.

He felt pawing at his left pec, and looked down to see her daughter rousing from her nap, which was all she had been doing since being born. Her mouth began moving and a small yawn escaped her.

“Hi princess,” he whispered.

His voice obviously wasn’t quiet enough, because he heard the heavy blankets on Felicity’s bed move. He looked up to find her trying to sit up more, but she was just too exhausted.

“Good evening, my other princess,” he said, standing up to make his way over to her bed.

“I believe it should be, ‘Good evening, my queen’,” she replied. Even after giving birth, she could still find time to be her sarcastic self. His smile only grew.

“Ok, then,” he replied, leaning down to kiss his wife. Oliver shifted the baby in his arms, lowering her down to Felicity’s chest. “I think she is getting hungry.”

The pediatric nurse had been in early to show Felicity how to breast feed properly, and Oliver hadn’t been able to pry his eyes away. Sure he had seen Felicity’s bare breasts multiple times, but there was something about this time that didn’t cause him to be aroused. Instead, he felt transported into a state of awe and, surprisingly, jealously. Because he wouldn’t be able to have this connection with his daughter. But he would settle with snuggling her against his chest, feeling her weight on top of his heart, because there’s where she would always be. His heart.

Felicity took the girl into her arms, pulling back the top she wore that gave her easy access. Their daughter latched on with no hesitation, and his guess was right, she had been hungry.

He settled back into the chair by Felicity’s bed, twisting his wedding ring on his finger. He felt metal hit metal and looked down to find Felicity’s engagement ring and wedding band resting on his pinky, right next to his ring. The doctor had advised her to take it off, due to the slight reaction she had with some pain meds they gave her. They hadn’t wanted her finger to loose circulation due to the two metal rings resting there. Looking up, he saw that they had gone back to their normal size. He reached out to grab her unoccupied left hand.

“I believe these belong to you,” he said while slipping on her wedding band and following with her engagement ring. He placed a kiss to the two when they found their home back on her finger.

“Thank you,” she replied, squeezing his hand.

Oliver then reached into his back pocket, pulling out the small box that was there.

“And this now belongs to you as well,” he said, opening the box to show her what was inside.

Her eyes got wide, and she brought her free hand to her mouth to hide the gasp. Inside was a platinum band that was similar to her wedding band. But instead of diamonds like her wedding band, the stones were a gorgeous emerald green, the birthstone for the month of May. Still holding her left hand, he slipped the band on her finger, and it settled at the top of her engagement ring.

“I know you’re not a big ring person,” he began, “But one of the guys on the team was talking about how he did this for his wife when their son was born, and I couldn’t resist. Also, Thea was badgering me about getting a “push present” but I’ve got no clear idea what that means. This just seemed perfect.”

Oliver saw Felicity’s eyes begin to water, and he felt her pull his hand towards her, and he felt her lips meet his. After a few seconds, she pulled away, looking down at the yawning baby in her arms.

“Thank you so much,” she whispered, “I love it.”

Oliver smiled back at his wife, still in awe of this moment.

“There’s another thing about it,” he said as he took the ring back.

To ease the confusion written on Felicity’s face, he brought the ring up to eye level. Twirling it so she could see, she gasped when she read the inscription.

“Oliver,” she spoke, bringing her free hand up to her mouth, eyes fighting to blink back tears. “It’s perfect.”

The pair looked down at their perfect baby girl, whose name was inscribed in perfect cursive on the inside of Felicity’s new ring.

“We love you Adelaide Queen.” 


End file.
